


Anna always knows

by hello_there_darling



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: AU: werewolves, Cute, M/M, OFC - Freeform, Slow Build, but still creepy, eventual slash, family fic, nice(ish) Peter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-01-05
Updated: 2014-08-07
Packaged: 2017-11-23 18:25:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 18
Words: 22,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/625255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hello_there_darling/pseuds/hello_there_darling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles gets lost in the middle of a storm and an unwilling Derek comes to his rescue.<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Into the woods.

The sun was starting to set and Stiles was angry. No he was past angry he was furious and he knew it was partially his own fault. He couldn’t blame everything on Scott. Scott who had a perfect girlfriend, a perfect family and apparently no time for Stiles anymore. Today was supposed to be Scott and Stiles’ monthly bro day and he had been looking forward to it all week, it was the only time he really got to see Scott anymore outside of school and lacrosse practice since the Argents had moved to town. He liked Allison, which made it even harder for him to be upset with her for stealing his best friend, and he was honestly glad Scott was happy. After the childhood Scott had he deserved it. But Stiles couldn’t help wishing that he was part of that happiness.

The day had started off okay. Scott had arrived at his house early in the morning and had dutifully listened to Stiles non-stop talking throughout breakfast before they decided what to do for the day. Stiles had heard his dad talking about a local girl going missing and tried to persuade Scott to come with him to check out her last known location. The only problem was that Stiles didn’t know exactly where she was last seen except it was in the wood surrounding Beacon Hills, a problem which Scott was only too happy to point out.  
“It can’t be too hard to find, the woods aren’t that big and we have all day. Just think about it Scott. We might find something the police missed, we could save the day.” Stiles said trying to keep the excitement out of his voice. Scott still didn’t seem interested so he tried a different technique.   
“I wonder how impressed Allison would be if we found the missing girl?” he knew it was below the belt but he was running out of options. Scott looked towards the ceiling and Stiles could almost see him weighing the pros and cons in his head. Returning his eyes to Stiles Scott sighed in defeat.   
“Fine but if we don’t find anything after a couple of hours we’re going to mine to play video games and order pizza.” He replied after a moment having decided that having the chance to impress Allison would be worth trailing through the woods for a couple of hours. Stiles was a little hurt that Scott wouldn’t go into the woods for him but as soon as Allison was mentioned he was practically running out of the door. He agreed to Scott’s demands quickly. Even if he was only doing this because of Allison at least they still got to go to the woods.

After gathering everything that would be needed for their short trip they set off. The weather was surprisingly pleasant for this time of year meaning only thin jackets needed to be worn. By the time they reached the woods it was late morning and the sun now sat high in the sky. The two boys stopped by the entrance to the woods and tried to decide which way they needed to go.   
“I think dad said something about it being near that old burnt down hunting lodge, we should head towards that.” Stiles suggested indicating to a point somewhere further in the woods. Scott looked in the direction he was pointing before nodding. He knew there was no arguing with Stiles once he had made up his mind about something. Smiling widely, Stiles turned away and headed in the direction of the lodge. For a moment Scott didn’t move just stayed where he was slightly stunned. He had forgotten how young Stiles could look when he was truly happy. A stab of guilt shot through his chest as he realised he hadn’t seen Stiles look that way for a long time. ‘Maybe I am spending too much time with Allison.’ He considered before pushing that thought to the back of his mind to think about later. Stiles shouting brought him out of his thoughts and he headed over to the smaller boy.  
Just as Stiles was starting to wonder what was holding Scott up the other boy arrived in the small clearing. ‘It really is beautiful here’ he thought looking around at the thick undergrowth. He looked up from his inspection of the area to find Scott studying him with an unreadable expression on his face.   
“Ready to get going?” he asked cheerfully turning his full attention back to his best friend who gave a small nod, the un-named expression never leaving his face as they set off. ‘Allison has probably forgotten to reply to his last text.’ Stiles thought bitterly as he followed Scott deeper into the woods.  
They carried on their trek for almost another hour making small talk about movies they had seen recently and their upcoming midterms before stopping to eat some sandwiches Stiles had brought with them. The woodland had grown much thicker now and the sun was barely able to pass through the trees above to light their path. Stiles couldn’t remember it ever taking this long to get to the lodge before, he was sure they must be close now. After walking for another half an hour Scott’s phone started to buzz indicating he had a new text. After reading it Scott’s face seemed to light up more than should be humanly possible. ‘I guess I was right about Allison then.’ Stiles thought somewhat amused at his friend’s predictability but also slightly annoyed that even though they were alone in the middle of the woods Allison still found a way to intrude on their bro time. Scott was now glancing anxiously at him every few minutes and Stiles could tell he was conflicted about something. Sighing he stopped in front of a large try and turned to talk to Scott.   
“What’s the matter? And don’t say it’s nothing ‘cause I can tell something is up. Come on, spit it out.” Stiles said keeping his voice playful. After seeing the slight look of panic flash across Scott’s face Stiles began to wonder if something serious was wrong. Scott looked guiltily at the ground before speaking.   
“Well the thing is Allison's parents are out of town for the week and her aunt has just left for the day so…” he answered trying to avoid looking at Stiles as the other boy realised where this was going.   
“So you want to go and spend some alone time with your girlfriend?” Stiles finished for Scott after watching him struggle to find the words to say what he wanted without hurting Stiles.  
“Yeah.” Scott said. ‘At least he has the decency to look ashamed at wanting to blow me off again’ Stiles thought to himself before forcing a broad smile onto his face which didn’t quite reach his eyes.   
“It’s fine Scott go and have fun. I think we passed near a road earlier, I'm sure Allison will be happy to pick you if you call her.” Stiles refused to let the smile slip from his face whilst he spoke. Frowning, Scott tried to decide what to do. He didn’t want to hurt Stiles but he also didn’t want to miss this chance at spending some time alone with his girlfriend. He was torn and it was showing on his face. It hurt Stiles to see him like this so he decided to choose for Scott.   
“It’s fine really. Go and have fun and I’ll see you at school tomorrow.” Seeing that Scott was still reluctant Stiles pushed him in the direction they had just come from.   
“Just go Scott!” Stiles kept his voice light and cheerful when really all he wanted to do was scream in frustration.   
“Don’t you want a lift home?” Scott questioned worried for his friends safety if he was left alone in the woods. After all it was only yesterday that a girl their age had gone missing from near here.   
“I’ll make my own way home, don’t worry about me.” Stiles replied his smile still fixed in place. After watching Stiles for another moment Scott nodded before turning and walking towards the road to be picked up.   
“Say hi to Allison for me!” he called after Scott’s retreating back before turning and walking even deeper into the woods.  
He had been walking for another hour when he finally admitted to himself that he was lost. After passing what he was sure was the same tree twice in ten minutes Stiles was forced to stop and try and work out how to get back to civilisation. Getting his phone out of his pocket he threw his head back and let out a groan of frustration. ‘Great I'm stuck in the middle of the woods and I have no cell service, my life sucks. This day could not get any worse’ of course as soon as he thought that the first drop of rain hit his face. 

Stiles managed to keep somewhat dry for the next thirty minutes by hiding under a large tree but he could only stay here so long. Checking the time on his phone Stiles realised he only had two hours until curfew, if he wanted to make it back on time he really needed to set off now. Taking a moment to gather his bearings before he set off he watched the rain slowly fall through the canopy of trees above him. It would have been a beautiful sight, one which Stiles could have stayed and watched for hours, if the fact that he was soaking wet and so cold he couldn’t feel his fingers wasn’t distracting him (why did he have to choose today to forgo his winter coat in favour of his thin red hoodie?). It was kind of hypnotic how each raindrop seemed to catch the light as it fell, reflecting light around the small clearing he was standing in. He was so caught up in his thoughts about the scene in front of him that he didn’t notice another person had entered the clearing until they cleared their throat to get his attention. When asked at a later date Stiles would deny that he screamed like a girl at the sudden noise to his right in the otherwise silent wood but the truth is that was exactly what he did. He turned to see a dark figure lurking in the shadows of a large tree to his right. The figure stepped out of the shadows to reveal a man, maybe only a couple of years older than Stiles, dressed head to toe in black with his thick hair pressed tightly to his head by the heavy downpour. Stiles had to admit the man was very good looking even if he did have a slight serial killer look going on. ‘I mean really, who hangs around in woods in the middle of a storm? Someone not right in the head that’s who’ he thought trying to ignore his growing unease. He was about to ask the man what he wanted when the man started to speak.   
“You’re on private property, you should leave.” The man said gruffly not once breaking eye contact with Stiles. ‘Did the man ever blink? It didn’t seem like he had so far. ’ he thought as he began to give the strange man his reply.   
“Sorry I thought all of the woods surrounding Beacon Hills belonged to the town and anyway I didn’t mean to end up here. You see I was out here with my friend Scott, to see if we could find that missing girl, and he decided to leave to meet his girlfriend Allison who is actually really nice even if she did steal Scott from me. Anyway he left me here and I tried to get back to town but I seem to have gotten slightly lost and then it started to rain so I decided to try and find shelter. But then I realised I needed to be home soon so I was about to set off walking again when you turned up so now.” But before he could finish speaking the man cut Stiles off.   
“Shut up.” Was all he said and straight away Stiles stopped talking not wanting to get on the strangers bad side. Stiles looked around the clearing nervously trying to ignore the flush he felt spreading up his neck and on to his face. When he was nervous he tended to talk a lot and he knew people often found it irritating. However, right now he was extremely nervous and trying as hard as he could not to start talking again.   
The man’s voice jolted him out of his thoughts and Stiles realised he had just been asked a question. He thought hard trying to work out what the stranger had said, quickly piecing it together from what he could remember.  
“Tell me where’s your car parked and I’ll point you in the right direction.” He said with what Stiles thought must be anger showing in his eyes. ‘He’s probably just annoyed at being made to stand out in the rain talking to some punk kid who doesn’t know what being quiet means’ though if he thought about it Stiles hadn’t actually done much talking in the last few minutes so maybe it wasn’t that. The man cleared his throat again and Stiles realised he was still waiting for a reply.   
“Oh. I don’t have a car. Well I do but it’s not here, it’s at home.” Stiles rushed out not wanting the man to have to wait any longer than he already had for his answer. “What I mean is I walked here. With Scott, who is not here. So if could just point me in the direction of town I’ll just go.” He finally managed to get out avoiding the man’s cold stare. The man seemed to think about Stiles answer for a minute as he stood drawing patterns in the mood with his already ruined sneakers.   
“There is no way you’ll make it back to town from here on foot in this weather. You think the rain is bad now? I can promise you it’s about to get ten times worse.” The man answered calmly which just angered Stiles.   
“Well then what do you suggest I do Mr creepy man I just met? There aren’t exactly any other options for me are there?” He snapped out growing irritated with the older man’s attitude. The man seemed to be expecting his reply and didn’t hesitate before speaking again.   
“I live near here. If you come with me I'm sure one of my parents will be able to give you a ride into town.” He said his voice still calm even after Stiles’ outburst. This caused Stiles to laugh.   
“And why exactly would I come with you? As I just pointed out I met you not even ten minutes ago, how do I know you aren’t some kind of serial killer. I don’t even know your name!” Stiles began getting ready to start another rant about stranger danger and all that.   
“Derek, my name is Derek.” The man, who was apparently called Derek, cut in before Stiles could even open his mouth to begin again.   
“Okay then Derek, but you still haven’t explained why I should come with you.” He finished with extra emphasis on his name as he folded his arms across his chest suddenly feeling even colder than before.”  
“You have nowhere else to go do you?” Derek asked simply arching his eyebrow in a way that would look ridiculous on anybody else but looked extremely sexy on Derek's dangerously handsome face. Snapping himself out of his study of Derek and his eyes brows Stiles looked the man up and down once more before nodding his head sharply.  
“Lead on Macduff.” He said before indicating for Derek to lead the way. He was almost certain that he heard a snort of laughter coming from Derek’s direction but it was probably just the wind playing tricks on him.


	2. Meeting Anna

Derek had been right. By the time the duo had been walking for several minutes the down pour was much heavier and Stiles welcomed the thought of finally reaching the promised shelter of the house. He suspected that Derek was regretting inviting him to his house, if the permanent scowl on his face was any indication, after Stiles had insisted on trying to keep a conversation going at all times. Well it wasn’t really a conversation as that would require both people talking. It was more him asking Derek multiple questions about his life and family which were mostly ignored. However Stiles had managed to pick up a few key pieces of information from his mysterious companion. It seemed that Derek was 20 (only 3 years older than Stiles) and lived with his family in a large house around half an hour from where Derek had found him. His family consisted of his parents, two sisters and an uncle who was staying with them for a few weeks.   
After running out of questions Stiles studied his surroundings as the passed through a denser part of the wood. The trees stood close together blocking out even more light and there were no longer any stray woodland creatures lurking in the bushes. He hadn’t heard any other sounds than his and Derek’s combined breathing for the last ten minutes. Not for the first time today Stiles pushed back thoughts that Derek was luring him further into the woods to carry out some sinister plan before leaving his remains where no one would ever find them. Not realising he had slowed down he dragged his eyes to Derek’s back and shivered from a mixture of fear and cold. Stiles sped up trying to catch up with the man who suddenly seemed further away than he wanted him to be. Reaching Derek’s side again he took a deep breath before speaking.   
“So are we nearly there yet? Or was this just some plan to get me where no one would ever find my body after you kill me?” Derek's eyes seemed flash red at his last question but he figured it must just be a trick of the light.   
“Don’t tempt me.” The tall man ground out his voice remaining cold and really what could Stiles say to that. Deciding it was safer for him to remain silent for the rest of the trip they quickly arrived at the house, both of them lost in their thoughts, and found a young girl standing by the open door. Derek ran up to meet her, throwing her up in the air then promptly placing her back on the ground, before turning to his guest.  
“Stiles this is my little sister Anna, Anna this is Stiles. He’s going to stay with us until the rain stops okay?” he asked his sister. Stiles thought she looked around nine or ten. The girl nodded as she approached Stiles, taking his larger hand in her much smaller one, and pulled him through the open door. Looking over his shoulder he saw the Derek had yet to move from his place on the porch. He had a bewildered look painted across his face. Realising he was being watched Derek blinked slowly, the bewildered expression slipping from his face to be replaced by his usual blank one, as he followed the younger boy and girl into the house before stopping again. Anna didn’t let go of his hand until they reached the kitchen. The kitchen was a beautiful room and Stiles could tell many cheerful family events had been held here. There were drawings and photos lining the walls and school books spread across the large table in the middle of the room. It was obviously a well-used room. Anna ran off through another door at the far end of the room leaving Stiles alone with his thoughts. He slowly moved towards the nearest wall and looked over the pictures he found there. He was studying one of Derek, and what he assumed was his other sister, playing in the nearby woods when he felt a presence behind him. Turning he found a woman watching him with a puzzled smile. Stiles recognised her as an older version of the girl in the photo making her Derek's (older?) sister. Stiles flushed not used to gorgeous women giving him attention. He cleared his throat nervously and headed across the room towards her.   
“Hi I'm Stiles you must be Derek’s sister, sorry I don’t think he told me your name.” he said awkwardly. She smiled at his obvious unease.   
“Yeah I'm Laura it’s nice to meet you. Although I must admit I'm a little confused as to what you’re doing here. Derek doesn’t often bring friends home. Actually I can’t remember a single time he has.” Her smile didn’t leave her face as she spoke. Her voice was unexpectedly powerful but also warm; it reminded him of his mother.   
“Oh well I wouldn’t really call us friends” he replied continuing at Laura’s raised eye brow “He sort of found me in the middle of the woods and demanded I came home with him until the rain stopped.” He finished rubbing the back of his neck distractedly. Laura stayed quite for a moment before bursting into an almost hysterical laughter. She continued for a moment or two before catching her breath.   
“I'm sorry it’s just” she hesitated trying to find the right words to use “that’s so unlike Derek. But at the same time that is so him it laughable.” For the second time today Stiles was left speechless by a member of this family. He settled for just nodding his head slightly before going back to studying the room, waiting for Laura to stop laughing again.   
Derek stood just outside the kitchen listening in his sister and Stiles talk. He really wasn’t sure what to think of the strange boy who had trusted him so easily. He was even more unsure of what to think of Anna’s behaviour. The normally shy girl had welcomed Stiles into the house quite happily even going as far as to hold his hand. Stiles probably thought nothing at the child’s acceptance but Derek was completely taken aback by it. Normally Anna had a hard time trusting anyone outside of the family. It had taken her 3 years to trust anyone at her school enough to begin making friends. Even then she was very selective with who she befriended but here she was acting like she had known Stiles her entire life and it unnerved Derek immensely. Shaking his head as if to try and clear his confusion he crossed into the kitchen to save Stiles from his sisters questioning before she embarrassed the boy too much.   
“Come on Stiles you can borrow some of my clothes to change into. You’ll get ill if you stay in your wet clothes much longer.” He placed a hand on the small of Stiles back, ignoring his shudder at the contact, and led the younger boy out of the room and towards the stairs. He ignored Laura’s shout of   
“Aw Derek’s being all protective of his little boyfriend. How sweet.” And prayed that Stiles hadn’t heard her. Looking at the flush spreading up the boy’s neck he guessed he had. Derek sighed and rubbed his free hand over his face. It was going to be a long night.


	3. I found the photo of the friend

Derek kept his hand on Stiles' back until they were in the safety of his bedroom and he could let out the breath he didn't realise he had been holding. He left Stiles standing by the door awkwardly and went to search his draws for something that would fit the smaller boy. After a few minutes of searching he found an old t-shirt and a pair of sweat pants that looked like they would just about fit. Turning to hand them to the other boy he was surprised to find he had moved. After a brief moment of panic he spotted Stiles examining the few personal items Derek kept in his room. There were several books piled by his bed, a couple of sports awards on a shelf by the door and a small collection of photos that Derek wasn't even sure why he bothered to keep. It was the pictures which Stiles was currently flicking through with a small smile. When he reached the last one Derek thought he saw the smile slip for a second before it settled back in place on the teens face, though maybe not as strong as it once was, as he turned to Derek holding up the picture.  
"Who is she, your girlfriend? She's pretty." He asked. There was something off about his voice, but Derek couldn't quite put his finger on what it was, and it momentarily distracted him from looking at the picture. When he did he felt his chest tighten in recognition. He cleared his suddenly very dry throat.  
"No, my ex. She... We, we didn't end on the best of terms..." He wanted to explain but he couldn't seem to find the right words. Looking up at the other boy he saw a mixture of pity and understanding shining in his eyes, it made him sigh. He might think he understood but Derek knew he would never be able to, not fully, he didn't know what Derek was. What the Hales were and Derek couldn't help but wish he did. Barely holding back a growl of frustration he dumped the clothes in Stiles lap and pointed him in the direction of the bathroom.   
"Go shower and get changed, I'll meet you back here and we can go down stairs for food."  
Stiles was going to reply but when he looked up Derek had already turned his back and was looking for something to wear. Instead he just nodded to himself and set off down the hall where he guessed the bathroom was. The first door he tried led to a linen closet so Stiles grabbed a fresh towel whilst he was there before moving on. Behind the second door he found another flight of stairs which he guessed led to the attic. Growing annoyed he was about to open another door, third times the charm, when he felt a small tap on his elbow. Looking down he found Anna looking up at him with large unblinking eyes. It was sort of cute in a slightly disturbing way. He felt like she could tell everything about him with just one look and it was rather intimidating. She must have been pleased with what she found in his eyes because the next moment she was smiling wildly at him and taking his hand to pull him further down the hall way. After they had passed several doors she stopped in front of a large oak door with a small bronze handle. He hesitated briefly before opening the door. Letting out a sigh of relief he found himself standing in a large bathroom in which everything seemed to be made of a dark wood or glass. It was breath taking, well as breath taking as a bathroom could be. He thanked Anna quickly, desperate to get in the large power shower he could see in the corner, before starting to close the door only to be stopped by a small hand on his wrist. Turning back to the small girl he gave her a questioning look. She pulled him closer.  
"Use the red shampoo." She said in a small voice before letting go of his wrist and skipping away back to what he supposed was her room. He stood by the door for a moment watching her go. Why is everybody in this family so weird? He thought as he climbed into the giant shower letting the soothing water wash away the mud and rain from his day in the woods. Closing his eyes for a moment he thought back to when he had first meet Derek earlier today. At first he had been scared of the older man, who wouldn't be scared of a stranger lurking in the woods in the middle of a storm, but once he had seen how handsome Derek was standing there in the dim light of the woods it had become all he could focus on. Stiles was slightly disturbed by just how much he had thought about how Derek looked within the last few hours. It had started as a general appreciation of the man's beauty which had soon developed into thoughts of what the man would look like out of his wet clothes, how striking his eyes were, how his large hands would feel wrapped around Stiles' small waist, what his plump lips would feel like wrapped around... He had to stop thinking about Derek in that way, it could make things very awkward. Resisting the urge to drop his hand to lower parts of his body Stiles finished his shower quickly. Trying to keep himself from thinking about anything that could cause him later embarrassment he got dressed and headed back to Derek's room. He paused at the door, running a hand through his damp hair. This was going to be a long night.


	4. Mother always knows

When Stiles re-entered the room Derek was pulling on a shirt with his back to the room, giving the Stiles a clear view of the tattoo that covered the entire span of his back. Turning to greet the younger boy Derek tried to ignore the bright blush he could see climbing Stiles neck, he didn’t want to think what could have caused it. Stiles was also trying to ignore the blush, refusing to accept that it was the sight of Derek getting dressed that had caused it. The two boys refused to meet each other’s eyes as they left the room. Neither spoke until they reached the stairs.   
“I’ll go ask mum if you can have a lift into town but there’s a good chance that you’ll have to wait a couple of hours for the rain to clear slightly. It can be dangerous to drive in weather like this.” Derek said as they neared the bottom of the stairs. “You can go wait in the lounge if you’d like, I’ll just be a minute.” He continued pushing Stiles in the direction of a room at the far end of the corridor. The younger boy nodded shyly and headed towards the front room where he could hear the TV playing loudly. Peering around the doorframe he spotted Anna sitting in a large, overly stuffed armchair by the window. The young girl noticed him as he stepped into the room, her face lighting up in recognition and she waved her small hand in his direction. As he neared her she jumped to her feet and pushed the older boy into the recently vacated chair. Before he could even think about moving the girl was climbing into his lap and wriggling until she was comfy, her head resting on his shoulder whilst she played with the hem of his oversized shirt, and started watching the TV again.  
After Derek had watched Stiles enter the lounge he turned on his heel and headed into the kitchen to find one of his parents. Judging by the smells exiting the room he guessed it was his mother cooking dinner. Slipping silently into the room he snuck up behind her and pecked her on the cheek before jumping up on to the counter. His mother let out an involuntary shriek and turned to smack him around the back of his head.   
“How is it that you can sneak up on me? No one else can.” She asked her smile contradicting her stern tone.   
“Practice?” he replied with a sheepish grin, stealing a piece of carrot from the chopping board.   
“If you say so, Is there something you wanted?”   
“Oh yeah, I found this guy in the woods and offered him shelter from storm and I, we, were wondering if you or dad could give him a lift back into town?” Derek asked already predicting her answer.   
“Sorry sweetheart, it looks like your friend is stuck here for a while. Your dad took the Jeep out of town and the family car wouldn’t make it through the storm.” She replied  
“Yeah, that’s what I thought. I’ll go let him know. I'm guessing it’s okay for him to eat with us then.” He asked, again already knowing her answer.   
“Of course he can, we can’t make our guest starve can we?” she smiled “Why did you bring him here anyway? You’ve never brought anyone here before, no matter what the reason was.” Her statement caused Derek to shuffle awkwardly on the spot as he thought of a response, he still wasn’t entirely sure himself.   
“He was on our land and, well, I don’t know. I guess I was just drawn to him, I had to help him, it wasn’t a conscious decision.” At his reply his mother’s eyes seemed to light up and a secretive smile spread across her face. He wasn’t sure he trusted that look; it usually led to some form of embarrassment for either him or Laura, especially when it was directed at him.   
“Mum… what is it? I really hate that smile.” Derek said taking a step towards the door, ready to make a quick escape if needed.   
“Nothing dear, I'm sure you’ll work it out for yourself soon. Now why don’t you make yourself useful and go catch your little friend up and see if he is allergic to anything?” She said shoving him out of the door. Muttering under his breath about irritating parents he headed towards the lounge.  
Entering the room he was surprised to find Stiles and Anna curled up together in Derek’s favourite chair. The sight was both endearing and completely bizarre, he had never seen Anna like that with anyone but family and he wasn’t sure how to respond to the situation. He settled on taking a seat on the chair nearest to the dozing pair, eyes flicking back and forth between them and the TV. When the program finished and Derek turned the TV off Stiles jerked up, fully alert and Anna only just managed to stay in her seat.   
“Sorry if I startled you but I was about to wake you anyway, it’s almost time for dinner. There isn’t anything you can’t eat right?” Derek questioned suddenly realising he hadn’t done what his mother had asked.   
“No, I eat anything… what happened to my ride home?” Stiles replied hesitantly as Anna buried closer into his chest.   
“Dad’s stuck out of town due to the storm and he has the Jeep. Mum says the weather is too bad to take out the family car so it looks like you’re stuck hear, at least for a few hours.” Anna seemed overjoyed by the news and let out a noise that was oddly similar to a cat’s purr. The sight of his little sister wrapped protectively around Stiles sent chills racing down his spine for reasons he couldn’t name. What was going on with him tonight? He pushed the feeling away as he peeled his sister off the younger teen, throwing her over his shoulder before offering a hand to Stiles to help him out of the chair. When they left the room he placed Anna on her feet and waited for her to head towards the kitchen before turning to face Stiles.   
“Just to warn you Laura can get a little… overwhelming so just ignore everything she says.” He cautioned, pausing before continuing as he led the smaller boy down the corridor. “Anything she says about me is probably false so again, ignore anything she says.” Stiles smirked as Derek finished. It was times like these he was glad he was an only child. They paused in the entrance to the kitchen mentally preparing themselves to face the rest of the family. Derek hoped Laura behaved for once, or at least tried to act normal. For some reason he didn’t want to scare Stiles off.


	5. The interrogation

Laura seemed to revert to an 8 year old whenever they had guests over. Anyone would think she didn’t meet new people every day at college from the way she acts. It’s like she doesn’t even realise what she does. For the first 10 minutes, whilst the food was being served, she simply studied Stiles who had the misfortune of choosing to sitting opposite her. Half way through the meal she seemed unable to remain silent any longer and started asking the younger boy a series of questions. The questions started off innocently enough but slowly became more personal, more embarrassing. By the end of the meal the Hales all seemed to know most of Stiles life story including a detailed family history and past relationships. To his credit Stiles remained calm throughout his interrogation and answered each question seemingly unfazed whilst Derek glared at his older sister as if he had the power to shut her up with his mind. His mother simply smiled at the scene unfolding in front of her while Anna seemed oblivious to her surroundings as she chased her food around her plate, quietly humming to herself.

 

However angry Derek was with Laura he had to admit it could be much worse, she actually seemed to be filtering the majority of what passed through her head before she said it. He didn’t know if she was trying to do him a favour or was waiting until Anna had left, not wanting to say anything inappropriate in front of the younger girl, either way Derek planned on escaping back to his room with Stiles as soon as the meal was over.

 

Looking at Derek Stiles struggled to hold back a smirk as he answered the final question he was asked. He couldn’t understand why the dark haired boy was getting so wound up over his sister’s behaviour. Sure some of her questions were getting quite personal but they were harmless enough. He was happy to answer but, honestly, he couldn’t wait for the meal to be over so hopefully he could be alone with Derek again. The older boy intrigued him, he was quite most of the time only speaking when he actually had something to say (unlike Stiles who could happily talk for hours and hours and never say anything of any value) he seemed intelligent and he was obviously very fit. If it was anyone else Stiles would be jealous, who wouldn’t be jealous of someone who looked like Derek, but for some reason it only enticed him further. He wanted to get to know the mysterious boy yet at the same time he already felt as though he had already known him for years. Stiles knew he should find the whole situation weird but he actually felt the most relaxed he had in weeks. The most relaxed he had felt since the Argents had arrived in town and everything had started to go downhill. Honestly Stiles wasn’t looking forward to the morning when the weather should have cleared and he would have no reason to stay. He guessed had to make the most of it whilst he was here.

 

When the last of the dishes had been cleaned and everything was put away Derek pulled him out of the kitchen and up the stairs before his sister could begin her second round of questioning, only stopping once they were safely in his room with the door locked. The moment the lock snapped in to its place Derek turned on the spot to look at Stiles who was once again standing awkwardly by the side of the bed looking both perfectly comfortable yet completely out of place at the same time.

 

“So…what do you want to do?” Stiles asked, shuffling on the spot as he pushed his hands deep into his pockets “We could watch a film or something?” he continues at Derek’s lack of response. After a moment or two Derek nodded sharply before heading across the room to the small stack of DVDs he kept in his room.

  
“Any preference?” he asked holding up the films for Stiles to choose from having already seen them all multiple times himself.

  
“Just put whatever in dude. As long as it isn’t some chick flick. I swear if I have to watch The Notebook one more time I may actually kill myself, I don’t think I’ll ever understand Lydia’s obsession with Ryan Gosling.” Stiles threw himself down on the bed as if he was in his own room, arranging the pillows so he was propped up enough to see the screen. After Derek started the film he made his way to the bed before sitting as close to the edge as he could without falling to the floor. They watched the first few minutes of the film in silence before Derek felt something tapping rhythmically against his hip. Looking down he found that that tapping was being the younger boy’s foot as he tried to get Derek’s attention. Once Stiles realised he had the older boy’s attention the tapping stopped abruptly.

  
“You do realise your bed is plenty big enough for the both of us to lay down comfortably, you don’t have to sit on the edge. Unless you have a problem with sitting next to me. Do I smell or something? I shouldn’t do, I mean I only got out of the shower an hour or so ago and I used your body wash so you obviously don’t mind the smell of that.” For some reason the thought of Stiles using his body wash sent his blood rushing to lower parts of his body. Oblivious to Derek’s sudden problem Stiles continued speaking as he patted the empty space next to him “seriously I don’t bite,” Derek thought he heard the smaller boy finish his train of thought with a muttered ‘unless you want me to.’ But that could have been his imagination, either way it wasn’t helping with his current problem.

 

Deciding to shut Stiles up before he could say anything else that could add to his problem Derek pushed himself further onto the bed and laid out, tucking an arm behind his head as a make shift pillow. At his movement Stiles settled down and began watching the film again, however Derek found it difficult to relax due to his sudden closeness to the small boy. He tried to force himself to focus on the screen but no matter how many times he had seen the film before if asked now he wouldn’t be able to say what was happening. What was wrong with him today? Normally he could focus on anything he put his mind to but Stiles was messing with his head. How was it that a boy he had only known a few hours had already messed up his thinking and was slowly working his way deeper and deeper into the older boy’s life?

  
Giving up on watching the film Derek turned his attention to Stiles deciding that watching the younger boy was a better use of his time. The boy was a mystery.


	6. The true beauty

By the time the movie was coming to a close Stiles was almost asleep, his head resting on the pillow by Derek’s shoulder. It had been an eventful day and he just wanted to sleep, to give himself a chance to process what had happened. He still couldn’t understand why he trusted Derek, for all he knew he could just be waiting until the younger boy went to sleep before brutally murdering him. It also felt like the rest of the family knew something that he didn’t, something to do with Derek, and he wanted to know what.

The sound of the credits beginning brought him back to full consciousness as he quickly sat up straight surprised by the loud music. Looking at his bed mate he was sure that the corners of Derek’s mouth twitched up, if only for a second, before resuming his normal stern expression. So it is possible for him to smile then he thought as he forced his face into a scowl when all he really wanted to do was smile at this revelation. He had felt the urge to smile more frequently whilst he had been at the house then he had in the last few months. For once his smile actually felt real instead of the fake one that had been appearing more and more often as of late.

Whilst he had become lost in his thoughts he hadn’t noticed Derek climbing under the covers next to him. It was only when he pulled himself back to reality that he noticed the other boy had closed his eyes and was laying facing him. He wasn’t sure if Derek was asleep or not yet but he took the opportunity to study the older boy in a way he had not been able to when Derek’s eyes were open. Starting at the top of Derek’s head Stiles swept his gaze over all the areas of the boy in front of him that weren’t covered by the thin quilt.

He had known since he first saw Derek that he was extremely handsome but now he could really see the beauty in the other boy. He examined the sharp line of his nose and the hard curve of his jaw wishing he was allowed to touch but knowing he would never have that privilege. Believing this would be his only chance to look he took his time slowly memorising every feature. After what felt like seconds but realistically was probably many minutes Stiles removed his eyes from Derek’s face and moved under the quilt. 

Closing his eyes he could still see the image of Derek sleeping printed on the back of his eye lids. He went to sleep with dreams of what could have happened if he had only reached out the small distance to the dark haired boy. If he had gently run a finger over that beautiful face like he longed to. Would Derek have opened his striking hazel eyes? Would he have reached out to Stiles in return? He knew this was all just a fantasy, Derek obviously didn’t like him, he could hardly stand him, but it made for a good dream.

When he heard Stiles breathing slow down enough to show he was finally sound asleep Derek re-opened his eyes. He had felt the younger boy’s eyes on him ever since the film ended and had been struggling to keep his hands to himself. Whilst watching the film the closeness of the other boy had been driving him slowly insane. The steady sound of his heartbeat, his smell, the way his breath would catch whenever something exciting happened, everything. Derek knew the younger boy thought he was good looking. He had smelt the attraction from the moment they met, but he refused to act on it. However much he wanted to make a move there was always something holding him back. Deep down he knew what it was but he loathed admitting that she still had this power over him. That she had ruined him for anyone else, for any chance he may have had with loud, hyperactive, charming boy who was currently sleeping soundly in his bed. 

Feeling his anger rising Derek made an effort to regain control of his breathing. Thinking of her always brought back these unwanted feelings, feelings of anger and self-loathing but most of all it brought back memories of his own stupidity and obliviousness. She had almost taken everything he cared for away from him and he couldn’t risk that happening again. 

Looking at the small boy sleeping next to him Derek fought back the smile threatening to appear. However badly he wanted to trust the boy, however badly his heart was telling him to trust the boy, he couldn’t let himself be vulnerable again. Next time he might not be so lucky. Next time he could lose everything.


	7. Beautiful distractions

Waking up in a bed with someone else was a new experience for Stiles. Sure him and Scott had spent many nights together growing up but they normally camped out in the living room rather than share Scott’s small bed. Something else he wasn’t used to was the feeling of another person, a male person, pressed up against his back with their arm thrown possessively around his waist. Although it was something he wasn’t, it felt oddly natural.

After trying to remove the arm wrapped tightly around his waist and failing he gave up deciding he might as well enjoy the feeling whilst it lasts. Pushing back further into the warmth of the firm chest behind him he froze in his place, holding his breath, when he felt the arm momentarily tighten around him before relaxing again. 

Letting out a silent sigh of relief when his bed partner remained asleep Stiles closed his and inhaled the small of the older boy behind him. He felt content, calm, for the first time in weeks. Without meaning to Stiles soon fell back to sleep blissfully unaware of the inner turmoil of the boy behind him.

Derek had woken around the same times as Stiles. The younger boy’s erratic heartbeat pulling him from his dreams as Stiles noticed the position they were in. At first Derek panicked, thinking that Stiles was uncomfortable with the intimacy, but still refused to move his arm as Stiles tried to remove himself from Derek’s hold. However, once Stiles pushed himself closer to Derek, the older boy instinctively tightened the embrace before relaxing back into their previous position.

Listening to the younger boys heartbeat Derek waited until it had calmed enough to show Stiles had gone back to sleep before gently removing his arm and slipping out from under the covers. He froze by the side of the bed a Stiles let out a small whine, obviously already missing the extra heat Derek provided, before rolling into the warm imprint Derek had left in the bed.

Knowing there was no one around to see, Derek let himself smile at the beautiful boy stretched out like a kitten across his bed and resisted the urge to reach out and touch the sliver of pale skin showing at the small of Stiles back. Derek turned and quickly headed to the bathroom before he did something he would regret.

Rushing out into the hallway Derek was almost knocked over by Laura who was heading back from the bathroom, her long dark hair hanging damp down her back, leaving a trail of water behind her. He tried to close his bedroom door before she could get inside but she darted around him and disappeared. 

Speeding back into the room he found Laura standing by the side of the bed watching the sleeping boy with a large grin on her face.

“He’s adorable!” Laura exclaimed as she turned to face “Good choice little brother.” She said with a wink causing Derek to fight back a flush.

“W-what do you… why would you…” Derek stuttered out as he tried to avoid Laura’s eyes. He suddenly found his feet very interesting. After several moments of silence Derek risked looking back up at his sister. She was no longer standing in front of him, instead she was now looking over the objects on Derek’s desk like Stiles had the night before. Derek didn’t often let his siblings in his room so Laura was taking advantage of the situation. The only people who ever came to see Derek in his room were his mother and his uncle Peter although the second often forced his way in whether Derek wanted him there or not.

Walking over to where Laura was stood he found her going through the pictures of him and his ex which Stiles had found. It took her a while to notice he was by her side again and once she did it took her even longer to speak.

“Why do you still have these? I thought you were past all this?” she asked with a small frown. Derek rubbed a hand over his face as he sat on the edge of the desk.

“To be honest I didn’t even know I had them still, Stiles found them last night, I was going to throw them out this morning.” Derek answered her. He paused, taking a minute to look back at the sleeping boy, before continuing.   
“I guess I got a bit distracted and forgot.” A small smile spread across his face before he could stop it. He turned back to Laura who was watching him with a matching smile and a fond expression.

“Yeah he is kind of distracting isn’t he.” She said as she moved closer to the bed moving her gaze back and forth between the two boys before settling on her brother.   
“You’re not going to let her ruin this for you are you? You can’t let Kate control your life Derek, she’s already done it once before, you can’t let her do it again.” She said taking a step towards the dark haired boy. Looking into her eyes Derek saw the anguish he was sure was mirrored in his own as they remembered the pain Kate had put their family through. Unable to look at her any longer he returned his gaze to the younger boy.

“There’s nothing for her to ruin Laura. Stiles will leave as soon as the weather clears up enough to get back into town and then I’ll never see him again.” Laura thought she heard his voice break slightly as he finished his sentence which proved he did care for the smaller boy whether he wanted to admit it or not.   
“I just can’t afford to risk letting anything happen again. Last time I let someone get close to me, well... you know what happened. I'm not putting you guys through that again.” He finished. Laura opened her mouth to respond but was cut off by a mumbled groan coming from the bed below them. They both turned in time to see Stiles open his eyes. 

The younger boy blinked several times until the room came into focus. Rolling onto his back the first thing he saw was two pairs of eyes watching him from the side of the bed. Yawning, he rubbed his eyes and sat up.

“Well that’s totally creepy.” Stiles said as he stretched “Do you always watch your guests sleeping? Because, if you do, it’s no wonder you don’t have many people over.” He looked between the two siblings, one who was smiling widely and one who was looking indifferent, as he waited for someone to speak. After neither of them had said anything several minutes later Stiles sighed and pushed himself to the edge of the bed before swinging his legs over the side. 

“So are either of you going to tell me why you were watching me sleep or are we just going to forget this ever happened?” he asked with a slight smirk. To most he would look indifferent but Derek could see the uncertainty in his eyes betraying his confidence. The siblings looked at each other before answering at the same time. 

Derek snapped out a sharp “Forget about it.” whilst Laura cheerfully replied with “Derek was just telling me how distracting some people are.” before skipping out of the room without looking back. The two boys stood, or sat in Stiles case, in silence avoiding eye contact. Eventually Stiles broke the silence by clearing his throat before looking at Derek expectantly. Derek remained silent for another minute before taking a step away from the bed.

“Food?” the older boy asked getting straight to the point as he headed towards the hallway leaving Stiles to run after him. After tripping once then untangling his feet from the quilt Stiles hurried out of the door and down the hallways before finally catching up with Derek halfway down the stairs, rambling the entire way about poor conversational skills.


	8. Nothing better to do

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay.

Breakfast with the Hales was a strange experience. Laura and Derek seemed to be having a conversation using only their eyebrows whilst Mrs Hale, who kept insisting Stiles called her either Mom or Alice, was studying him like he was a work of art. It was both flattering and creepy. Anna was yet again silent as she watched her family whilst eating. Even if the young girl was a little quite Stiles thought she was probably the sanest member of her family. 

The sound of cutlery hitting plate signalled that Derek had finished eating. It also signalled the end of Derek and Laura’s wordless conversation. Looking up from his plate Derek noticed he was being watched by Stiles. He cleared his throat awkwardly and looked away causing Laura to smirk at her brother before winking at Stiles. The short haired boy studied his plate with a new found interest whilst Derek kicked his sister under the table. It was times like this that Stiles was glad he was an only child.

Even though everyone had finished eating they remained sitting at the table in silence for what felt like an eternity. Stiles was never very good at keeping quiet but for once he was reluctant to speak, knowing whatever he said would only prompt more teasing from Laura. He hadn’t known the older girl for long but if he had to use 3 words to describe her they would be devious, trickster and unstoppable. In any other situation they might be good friends but stuck in the same building as her for a long period of time was starting to make Stiles paranoid. He was constantly waiting for her to do or say something to embarrass him.

Finally giving in to his need to talk, Stiles asked Mrs Hale if there was any chance he would be able to get back in to town this morning.

“I'm afraid not dear. The storm brought down some trees and they’ve had to close off the main road.” She replied before swiftly continuing after seeing Stiles worried expression. “Don’t worry I'm sure we’ll get you home soon and until then Derek will look after you.” She finished with a smile that could seriously beat Laura’s in deviousness, it was almost wolfish. Not for the first time since he had arrived Stiles felt like he was missing something.

“It’s fine Mrs Hale. I’ll just borrow your phone to call my dad though if that’s okay, my cell died this morning and I think it’s got some water damage from the rain.” Stiles said as he pushed his chair back from the table to give him room to stand “Oh and I'm sure Derek has better things to do than look after me, I’ll just find something quiet to do and try to stay out of everyone’s way. I’ve caused you enough trouble as it is.” He walked around the large table and headed to the hallway where he was sure he saw a phone yesterday. As he passed Derek a large hand shot out and grabbed his wrist holding him in place. Both he and Derek seemed caught off guard by the action and the older boy quickly let go, moving his hand to rub the back of his neck in what Stiles realised was a nervous habit. 

“Sorry.” Derek mumbled without looking at him.

“It’s… fine?” Stiles said hesitantly, looking at Derek with eyes full of question and curiosity before turning away. He was almost out the door when Derek spoke up again.

“Stiles, I have nothing better to do.” He mumbled only looking at the younger boy once he finished speaking. Stiles nodded sharply once and left the room. 

As he dialled his dad’s number he thought back to the strange event of the past 24 hours, focusing on breakfast especially as it was still fresh in his mind. So Derek had nothing better to do? If anyone else had said it he would have thought they were being rude, or maybe they didn’t want to spend time with him but had no excuse not to, but when Derek said it he could almost believe that the older boy wanted to spend his day with him. He knew Derek rarely spoke more than a few words at a time so maybe this was him trying to make Stiles feel welcome, in his own twisted way. Then again maybe it was just Stiles romanticising what had happened and hoping that Derek didn’t hate him as much as he sometimes made it seem.

The sound of his dad answering the phone brought him out of his thoughts and he quickly explained what was going on to his worried father. Once he had finished his story, leaving out certain parts such as Scott abandoning him, the sheriff let out a frustrated sigh.

“I don’t like the thought of you out in the middle of nowhere with a family of strangers Stiles. Is there really no way you can get home sooner?” he asked his son.

“I already told you dad, the road is closed, there’s nothing I can do.” Stiles replied calmly knowing the sheriff was on edge already due to the storm without having to worry about him.

“I know I know. I just wish there was something I could do but the damage in town is worse so all emergency services are there. The earliest we should be able to get the road cleared is tomorrow morning. You think you can manage there till then?” the sheriff let out another sigh and Stiles could picture him rubbing his free hand over his face. 

“I’ll be fine dad, trust me. The Hales are…” he tried to think of an appropriate word to describe them that wouldn’t cause his dad to worry. Of course that meant he couldn’t use the first 20 words that popped into his head. He didn’t think telling his dad that he thought Derek was a serial killer at first would help in this situation. 

Lifting his gaze from the spot he had been absently studying on the floor Stiles noticed Anna lurking shyly by the door in a less creepy, cuter imitation of her older brother. He waved her over and slid down the wall planning to sit next to her on the floor. However, once he was sat the little girl wasted no time in climbing into his lap and tucking her head under his chin. As he started running his fingers through her long dark hair he heard his dad trying to get his attention through the phone.

“Hello? Stiles? You still there?” He asked repeatedly. 

“Yeah sorry dad I just got distracted, what was I saying? Oh yeah, the Hales. They’re nice dad, a bit unusual but nice.” Stiles said as he looked at the little girl curled up in his lap. “anyway dad I’ll talk to you later. Don’t worry about me I’ll be fine, I mean they haven’t tried to kill me yet so that’s a good sign right?” he joked 

“Sure Stiles I’ll see you soon.” The sheriff replied choosing to ignore his sons last comment “Love you son.” He said quickly before hanging up the phone.

“Love you too dad.” Stiles whispered to himself as he put the phone back in its holder. 

Stiles hated that he was causing his father extra stress yet again. He didn’t mean to but somehow he always ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sighing Stiles rested his head against the wall and closed his eyes. He thought back to when his mom was still alive and everything had been easier. Back when he was a normal kid without ADD. Back when his dad didn’t always have to hide his pain at the thought of another day without his wife. Back when they were happy. 

He didn’t often let himself think about his mother as it only brought more pain and bad memories. Today, however, he was able to focus on the good things, the happy memories and for once he didn’t cry at the memory of her smile. Soon he was asleep, leaning against the wall with a dark haired bundle on his knees, dreaming of his family.

That was where the rest of the Hales found them half an hour later. The teenage boy and little girl wrapped around each other on the hallway floor, Stiles still running his fingers through Anna’s hair even in his sleep. The sight brought a smile to everyone’s, even grumpy Derek’s, face. Alice placed a delicate hand on her only son’s arm to get his attention. 

“I know it, you know it, Laura knows it and even Anna knows it. The only person who doesn’t know is him.” she said as Derek tried to avoid eye contact. “You have to tell him, he knows something is going on, it isn’t fair to keep this from him.” she finished as Derek let out a deep growl. 

“I’ll tell him when I feel like telling him, when its right. That’s if I tell him at all.” Derek said in a rough voice, continuing before his mother or sister could protest his decision. “He isn’t like us. It wouldn’t be fair to just throw him in the deep end and hope he can swim. I'll tell him when I'm ready, when he’s ready.” He finished before heading towards the living room leaving the others to deal with the sleeping teen and child.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what did ya think?
> 
> Any idea what Stiles doesn't know?
> 
> Give me comment and tell me your ideas or even just ideas on how you want the story to go.
> 
> Thanks for reading.


	9. Memories of loss

For the second time today Stiles woke up in a stranger’s bed. This time, however, he didn’t remember how he had gotten there or even whose bed it was. 

It said a lot about Stiles that his first thought was that he could smell fresh food instead of worrying where he was. No matter what the situation was food would always be his priority and in his opinion there was nothing wrong with that. It was only after he grew used to the smell that he began to question his surroundings. He knew he was still at the Hale house, he just had to work out whose room he was in.

The walls were bright purple and the carpet was a soft blue. It was one of those carpets that made you automatically want to stand on it bare footed to see if it felt as fluffy as it looks and Stiles had to physically stop himself from doing just that my holding on to the bed sheets. Glancing around the room it was easy to work out that this must be Anna’s room (either that or Laura really was as childish as she acted.) Stiles could see several boxes of books and toys as well as a collection of stuffed animals which were sat on the floral quilt cover next to him. So far everything seemed normal, except for one thing. If this was a child’s room why was it so clean? Thinking about the rest of the house Stiles realised it was also spotless but that was to be expected, most people liked to keep their houses clean, but this was unnatural. He had never seen a child’s room this tidy. Even if the room had just been cleaned it usually only took a few minutes before a small collection of toys was scattered around the room. Anna definitely wasn’t a normal child.

Finishing his observations Stiles tried to get out of the bed but found himself being held down by someone he hadn’t noticed. Carefully rolling over in their hold Stiles fought back the sense of de ja vu as he tried not to wake the person next to him before he knew who they were. Once he was completely facing his bed mate Stiles smiled and let out a small giggle. Next to him Anna was curled around a stuffed wolf trying to wriggle closer to him now that he had moved. The little girl looked just like her brother did in his sleep. That thought made Stiles cringe as he realised he had now watched two of the Hales sleeping in only a couple of hours, even he had to admit that was a bit creepy. 

After a slight struggle Stiles managed to free himself and leave the room. He walked the now somewhat familiar path back to the kitchen where he could hear people talking and pots banging. Entering the room he found all the Hales, minus Anna, he had already met with the addition of a man who seemed to be around the same age as his dad. This must be Mr Hale then he thought as he slowly made his way towards the group. 

Stiles didn’t want to interrupt their conversation so he tried to sneak in to the room as quietly as he could. However everyone seemed to notice him straight away and the conversation quickly died down until they were left in an uncomfortable silence. 

“You must be Stiles, come and sit down.” The man he assumed was Derek’s father said cheerfully as he tapped the empty seat next to him. Not wanting to be rude Stiles hurried across the kitchen to site in the wooden chair. “I'm Derek’s dad,” he said holding out his hand to the younger boy “Please call me James. I won’t accept any of that Mr Hale nonsense it just makes me feel old and makes you feel awkward.” He finished with a playful smile which instantly calmed Stiles. Both of the elder Hales seemed to have a talent for calming people down and making them feel welcome. 

“I thought the road was closed, how did you get home? Has the storm passed?” Stiles asked as he listened to the rain which was still beating down hard and fast on the roof of the large house. 

“I'm afraid not. The road in to town is still blocked so there is no way anyone is getting down there anytime soon. The only reason I was able to get home was because I was coming in from out of town and was able to use a different road.” James answered apologetically as though it was his fault. 

“Oh, okay then. I'm really sorry that you’re stuck with me for probably another night you can’t like having a stranger staying with you. I promise I’ll be out of your hair as soon as possible and you’ll never have to see me again.” Stiles said quickly twisting his hand together nervously. He didn’t want to impose but he really didn’t want to go out in the storm again. Knowing his luck he wouldn’t make it home in one piece. He could feel a panic attack building when he suddenly felt a large hand gently squeezing the back of his neck. The distraction gave him enough time to calm down and get his breathing sorted before the panic attack got any worse. Holding back the blush of embarrassment that was threatening to stain his cheek Stiles looked behind him to see his saviour. 

Derek quickly removed his hand as Stiles turned and started to rub his own neck instead. Stiles smiled weakly at the older boy and managed to mumble out a quick thank you before he swiftly turned back to the table and tried to hide the blush that he was no longer able to contain. He thought he may have heard a whispered reply from Derek but Laura’s loud laugh succeeded in concealing any other noises in the room. 

“Laura!” Alice snapped at her daughter who immediately stopped laughing and turned to face her mother “Go and wake your sister, it’s almost time for dinner.” She ordered and off Laura ran, the sound of her racing up the stairs echoing around the now silent room. 

Mrs Hale returned to her cooking mumbling under her breath quietly. The only parts Stiles managed to pick up were ‘Oh that girl,’ ‘like a child’ and ‘what’s he waiting for.’ Stiles guessed the first two were about Laura but the last one? That could be about anyone of the males in the house, himself included. 

“Could you help Derek set the table please Stiles?” Alice asked as she began serving up the food on large plates which each held twice the amount a normal person would eat. The Hales sure seemed to eat a lot he thought with a smile. At least he wouldn’t be getting odd looks for his own generous appetite like he did at school. 

Once the table was set everyone sat in the same place they had this morning with the exception of Derek who was now sat next to him and James who was in Derek’s old seat. Stiles raised an eyebrow in Derek’s direction at the change but left it at that. He would rather sit next to Derek than James anyway. 

The meal passed without any major incidents and Laura managed not to say anything she knew would wind Derek up. The family asked James about how his trip had been before catching him up on recent events. Anna decided that James needed to know everything he had missed and apparently that included a summary of Stiles life story from the night before. If he was anywhere else Stiles would have felt embarrassed at being the centre of attention two nights in a row but for some reason he didn’t mind Anna repeating the story again, he felt comfortable. Maybe it was because this was the most he had heard Anna say since he arrived or it could be the way Derek would try to hide his laugh at the humiliating stories from Stiles childhood. Either way as long as he didn’t have to take part in the discussion he was happy to sit back and listen. He became so lost in his own thoughts as he listened that it took Derek’s not so gentle nudge for him to realise he had been asked a question.

“Sorry what did you say?” he asked James with a sheepish smile. He had never been very good at paying attention, maybe that was why Mr Harris hated him so much.

“I asked if your father was the sheriff. John Stilinski right?” Mr Hale replied with a wide smile. 

“Yeah he is. Do you know him?” Stiles asked curiously, his dad had never mentioned a James Hale as far as he could remember. 

“Sort of, we went to school together. I think I was a year ahead of him but Alice must have been in his year.” He finished looking over at his wife for confirmation. She nodded with a sweet smile.

“Yes he was in a few of my classes but we were never really friends. However your mother and I were very close for a while, we were almost inseparable.” She said with a faraway look in her eye as if she was thinking of memories from long ago. Stiles was shocked.

“Y-you knew my mother?” he asked in barely more than a whisper suddenly feeling faint. His father didn’t like to talk about her and he didn’t really have any other connection to her since she died. He only had faint memories of her and what she was like. Then there were the nightmares of her death that haunted him but he chose to ignore them.

“Oh yes we were very close actually I might have an old photo album somewhere upstairs if you’re interested?” Alice asked hesitantly not wanting to upset the young boy. She didn’t know how he felt about his mother since her death but hoped that he would want to talk with her about her old friend. Stiles only nodded as he was now too shocked to even speak.

He sat in his chair numbly as Alice gracefully left the room to find the album. They didn’t have many pictures of her around the house anymore since they only reminded the sheriff of his loss. Maybe this could be a chance to learn the things about his mother he had always wanted to know but hadn’t wanted to ask his dad. Maybe this could be his chance to get rid of the nightmares for good.


	10. The experiment

Alice returned sooner than Stiles expected bringing with her a large photo album that was starting to peel along the spine. She carefully passed the album across the hastily cleared table to Stiles before walking around to sit next to him. Everyone around the table remained silent giving the younger boy a chance to collect his thoughts as he tried to come to terms with what he had just found out. It was hard to tell from his blank expression what was going on in his head.

The family all seemed to silently agree that it was best to wait for Stiles to speak first and to go from there. They watched as the boy gently stroked up and down the spine of the album as though it was the most precious thing he had ever seen.

They didn’t have to wait long for the younger boy to pick up his constant rambling again as he asked multiple quick fire questions about the late Mrs Stilinski to anyone who could answer. Mrs Hale answered all the questions she was able to with Mr Hale joining in where he could. The Hale children all sat in silence eagerly listening to their parent’s stories and making comments and laughing where appropriate. 

After several hours of tales from the senior Hales childhood; Stiles was starting to see why he got his mischievous nature from. Apparently back when they were in school Alice and his mom had been the cause of many accidents and pranks. It was only after the telling of an incident where half the lacrosse team got food poisoning due to his mom getting distracted that he fully realised how similar they were. 

He found it comforting that although he no longer had his mom with him he still had a part of her inside him. For the first time since her death he felt connected to her in a way he thought he never would again and although he would never admit it he was struggling to hold back his tears. 

Looking up from the album which he had been staring at for the last few minutes he realised Alice had finished her latest story and was watching him with a serene smile. Clearing his throat awkwardly Stiles shuffled in his chair and avoided eye contact with everyone as he tried to keep his tears from falling, not wanting to embarrass himself again. 

After taking a minute to compose himself, Stiles turned to face Alice with a wide but shy smile. 

“Thank you for this you have no idea what it means to me. It’s just… I… well…” Stiles struggled to find words to show his gratitude to the woman who had given him a part of his mother he had thought he could never have. He felt Derek shift closer to him from his seat next to Stiles. 

From the corner of his eye Stiles could see the older boy was fighting back the urge to reach out and comfort him. The image made him smile as he wasn’t used to Derek looking so unsure, so nervous, about such a small action. In the short amount of time Stiles had known Derek the short haired boy had never seen him act like this. The Derek he had met two days ago was never anything short of confident and self-assured and to be honest Stiles couldn’t blame him, if he looked like Derek he would be confident all the time too. 

When it became too painful to watch Derek twitch in his seat Stiles calmly reached out and grabbed Derek’s hand. Derek’s reaction before he began to calm down made the whole thing even better. As Stiles tangled their fingers together Derek seemed to jump a good few inches off his chair, his mouth hanging open and eyes wide, before settling down and trying to act as though nothing had happened. The rest of the Hales ignored Derek’s outburst in favour of talking between themselves. It was only Laura’s wink and mischievous smile in Derek’s direction that showed the family had even noticed the interaction between the two boys. Of course they had noticed, they notice everything.

Stiles sighed and tried to pay attention to the conversation around him but the pale blush now spreading up the back of Derek’s neck was very distracting. He wondered how dark he could make the blush go. Never being one to pass up an experiment Stiles started to slide the hand he had resting on the dark haired boy’s knee further up his leg. He moved in measured amounts not wanting to rush his experiment and have to end it before his fun could begin. 

When he reached the midpoint of Derek’s thigh he risked a glance at the older boy to see if there was any change. The pale pink blush had now risen to a warm rose and was rapidly increasing. Holding back a smirk Stiles joined in Laura and James’s conversation about the upcoming lacrosse game in town, giving his opinion on who he thought would win. Throughout the conversation Stiles kept moving his hand higher and higher wondering how far Derek would let this go before he snapped. 

Stiles was about to slide his hand along the inside seam of Derek’s jeans when Alice cleared her throat. The sudden sound caused Stiles to rip his hand away from the jeans as he feared he had been caught. Alice raised an eyebrow at him but otherwise said nothing. Letting out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding, he risked a final glance at Derek, noting that the tips of his ears were now a brilliant hot pink, before returning his gaze the rest of the Hales. 

“Yes?” he asked somewhat nervously. 

“We were just saying we should all head up to bed now, some of us seem to have worn themselves out.” James answered him with a smile as he pointed at Anna who was curled up on the floor, half hidden by the table, with her head resting between Stiles and Derek’s feet. He hadn’t even noticed she was down there. 

“Good idea.” He managed to say before letting out a loud yawn. At the thought of going to bed with Derek again Stiles felt suddenly extremely tiered.

“Alright then. Derek it’s okay for Stiles to spend the night with you again isn’t it? There isn’t any space in my room and I doubt he would want to stay with Anna.” Laura asked innocently though everyone could see it was all an act. 

“Fine.” Was all Derek said before quickly standing, picking Anna up off the floor and leaving the room. Stiles looked at the remaining Hales all of whom were giving him matching knowing looks.

“So I'm just gonna…” He trailed off as he gestured in the direction of the doorway and waited for someone to say anything. After a minutes silence he got tired of waiting and slowly stared backing out of the room. “Okay then, night.” He said before spinning around and leaving as quickly as he could without looking like a complete spaz. 

It was only after he left the room that he realised that he would be spending another night in a small bed with Derek. After what had just happened at dinner he wasn’t sure it was a good idea for them to be alone together. Sure his experiment had been fun at the time but now he had a feeling Derek would rip his throat out as soon as he entered the room. Possibly with his teeth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahahahahahaha, with his teeth!  
> Sorry I couldn't resist.
> 
> Tell me what you think and the next chapter should be up soon.
> 
> Have any questions/ideas or just want to chat email me at hellotheredarlingao3@gmail.com


	11. Grab the gun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'll just say now that I know this chapter sucks and there really is no excuse for it except that I'm a terrible writer and I'll try to make the next one better.

Neither boy spoke for the remainder of the night; both choosing to ignore what had happened. They silently walked up the stairs to Derek’s room, changed in to sleepwear and climbed in to bed. Derek slept as close to the edge as he could without falling off whilst Stiles spread out over the rest of the mattress. Unlike the night before they both made an effort, even in their sleep, to stay away from each other. 

The awkwardness continued the next morning making breakfast an uncomfortable affair for all involved as Derek and Stiles avoided any unnecessary contact with each other. Even without the obvious distance between them Derek’s family could feel the tension between the boys.

Unsurprisingly it was Laura who broke the painful silence.

“Seriously what is going on with you two? You were disgustingly sweet yesterday and now Stiles looks like Derek kicked a puppy and made him watch. What could have possibly happened in one night that was so bad you can’t even look at each other now?” She snapped with more sass than Stiles thought was possible this early on a Sunday morning. Unlike Stiles, Derek was obviously used to Laura’s morning sass and simply ignored her for the rest of the meal before washing his plate and storming out of the room. Mrs Hale tried to following him but Stiles stopped her. 

“Let me go, I need to talk to him anyway.” Stiles said quietly as he headed towards the door.

Pretending he couldn’t hear the Hales quiet talking as he left the room Stiles slowly, unsurely, made his way towards Derek’s room, trying not to think about what could be waiting for him on the other side of the door. 

He took a moment to gather his thoughts before he entered the room. What was he supposed to say? Knowing his luck he was more likely to make things worse rather than better. 

Derek’s voice brought him out of his thoughts. 

“You might as well come in Stiles, I can hear you panicking from in here.” The older boy didn’t sound angry but rather passive; as though he knew they needed to talk but still didn’t want to. Taking a deep breath to at least try and calm his nerves Stiles opened the door and walked in before he could chicken out. 

The room was tidier than it was when he left this morning so Stiles guessed Derek had been tidying whilst they finished his breakfast. Clothes that had previously been thrown half-heartedly in the closet had been neatly folded and put away. Derek’s desk was now clear except for the few books that belonged there. The bed was made with fresh sheets and Derek was sitting stiffly on the edge waiting for Stiles. 

Stiles slowly made his way across the room to sit next to Derek, avoiding looking at the older boy as he walked. He hated how things had changed between yesterday and today. Stiles knew the change between them was his fault but he didn’t know how to fix things. Never one to remain silent for long Stiles twisted in his seat to face Derek before he could back out. 

“I'm sorry. I know this is my fault, even though I'm not completely sure what I did wrong, so please just tell me how to fix this ‘cause I don’t know about you but I thought we were becoming friends or… I don’t know.” Stiles trailed off, his words becoming an anxious mess. As he waited for Derek’s reply he focused on his breathing, trying to stay calm but struggling. 

After Derek remained mute for a couple more minutes Stiles risked glancing up from the spot he had been staring at blankly since he re-entered the room. Looking up he found Derek watching him with a mixture of confusion, surprise and something Stiles couldn’t identify. 

It seemed like Derek was finally about to speak when he suddenly jerked his head towards the door and froze. Stiles was about to ask what was wrong when he heard it. The sound of the door being knocked down was the first thing he noticed but it was quickly followed by glass breaking and what sounded like some sort of wild animal. Whatever was going on he could only assume it wasn’t good.

His assumption was proved correct when Laura came storming through the door and threw a gun in Stiles general direction before turning on her heel and leaving faster than should be possible for a human. He knew there was something different about the Hales, something weird, but this wasn’t anything like what he had been thinking. Stiles looked between the gun and Derek waiting for some sort of explanation but Derek looked just as shocked as he was. The older boy continued staring out of the door after his sister whilst remaining in his defensive position in front of Stiles. 

“There are some things about my family that you don’t know and I really don’t have time to explain right now, so just take this,” he pushed the gun in to Stiles hesitant hands “stay close to me and no matter what happens you have to try and stay calm.” Derek finished and rushed out the room leaving a bewildered Stiles standing at the foot of the bed trying to work out what the hell was happening. How had he gone from almost molesting Derek in front of his family to having a gun forced on him. 

What the hell was going on here?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again I'm sorry this is so bad but I'm working on it.
> 
> I'll hopefully have the next chapter up sooner than the last but in the mean time let me know what you think. 
> 
> Oh and I'm looking for a beta so if anyone is interested please please please email me at hellotheredarlingao3@gmail.com thank you!!
> 
> And on a final note follow me on Tumblr? http://htdbe.tumblr.com/  
> There is a 75% chance I'll follow you back so take a chance


	12. The Hunter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I got a bit off track with this chapter but I'll get back on with the story more in the next update.

After taking a moment to get over what was threatening to be the biggest internal meltdown Beacon Hills had seen since Greenburg tried to confess his feelings for Finstock in front of half the lacrosse team; Stiles headed downstairs feeling unnerved by the sudden silence. He didn’t have a clue what was going on but in his opinion silence was never a good thing. 

Reaching the bottom of the stairs he found that not only had the front door been blown to pieces but also everything within a 10ft radius was now lying on the ground in varying states of ruin. The once pristine house was now a complete wreck. 

Stiles didn’t hear the quite footsteps approaching him from behind as he studied the broken door. The first, and only, sign of another person in the room was the gentle breathing that was slowly growing louder as it neared the boy. The breathing was so gentle that it took the feeling of it against his back for stiles to finally notice the other person. 

His first instinct was too run, because really what normal person would want to stay in a house that looked like it had been attacked whilst an unknown person breathed down their neck? However, stiles wasn’t a normal boy and the instinct to flee was quickly pushed aside by a feeling of intense, almost unnatural, calm. 

The feeling took him by surprise. He wasn’t supposed to be feeling calm in a situation like this. In fact he should be feeling anything but calm. For some reason though something in his brain was telling him that everything was okay, that he was okay. The feeling only increased when a small hand reached out and wrapped its self around stiles wrist with a strength that shouldn’t be possible for its size. 

Moving as slowly as his hyperactive body would let him, stiles turned in the secure grip and found himself face to face with the youngest member of the hale family. Anna looked just as peaceful as she had been during breakfast yet there was something hiding deep in her eyes that told him something was wrong. 

Without saying anything the young girl tugged gently on stiles wrist before heading though the open door behind her. Except it wasn’t a door, or at least it wasn’t like any door he had seen before, but rather a gap in the wall which had previously been blocked by a large wall hanging of a beautiful black wolf. 

Stiles didn’t know what to do. It was obvious Anna wanted him to follow her but was that really the safest thing for him to do right now? Shouldn’t he be running out the door and never looking back instead of debating with himself whether or not he should follow the strange girl in to the dark and mysterious passage way that led to an unknown and possibly stranger place. 

Looking through the hole in the wall where the door used to be stiles weighed is options. He could either leave the house and risk freezing to death in the storm which was still raging on outside or follow Anna and risk dying at the hands of whatever was waiting for him on the other side of the wall. 

Never being one to run away from an adventure, no matter how ridiculous and possibly life threatening it may be, stiles wasted no more time in following the girl. The wall hanging dropping back in place once he was safely inside. Yeah, because it’s not like that was creepy or anything stiles thought as he headed deeper in to the tunnel. 

Stiles followed Anna’s distant footsteps until he found himself in a large room. The room was piled high with the strangest collection of book stiles had ever seen ranging from a small collection of childhood classics to books with names he wouldn’t even attempt to pronounce. 

It was by the collection of children’s books that he found Anna curled up in a large, overstuffed chair. The girls wide eyes stared at him from over the top of the book she was clinging to as though her life depended on it. As he neared her stiles could see that the book was a collection of what appeared to be fairy tales although they were ones which he had never heard of. The book had to be at least a couple of hundred years old. The corners of the pages were curling, many of them becoming dog eared with use, the ripped leather on the cover was fading in patches where the sun had bleached it over the years and the spine was barely holding its self together. Yet Anna was holding it as though it was the most precious thing in the world. 

“What have you got there?” stiles asked moving slowly towards her as though he was approaching a wild animal. Anna only blinked in response before gracefully rising from the chair and coming to stand in front of the older boy. Without speaking she pushed stiles in to the chair, climbed in to his lap and opened the book on a seemingly random, but beautifully decorated, page. The page she had opened the book on showed a man, dressed from head to toe in thick black leather, shooting a purple tipped arrow in to the chest of the beast in front of him. In response the beast was rearing back on its hind legs, trying to get away, the pain in his eyes shining through. 

Stiles looked at Anna curiously. Why would a child want to look at something as disturbing as that? He tried to ask her why she was looking at a book like this but she silenced him with a single look and turned back to the book spread out across her lap, turning the page before looking over her shoulder at the elder boy. 

Taking a deep breath, stiles looked down at the new page. It was unlike the previous one was covered in writing. The title of the page was The Hunter and if the illustrations were anything to go by it was going to be an interesting, if not horrifying, read.


	13. Surely he would know.

As he had expected the story the book told was equal parts fascinating and horrifying making Stiles want to continue reading past the chapter that Anna had directed him to. In fact he planned to continue reading. As he reached out to turn the page for a second time a small hand whipped out and smacked his hand away. Whilst the boy was temporarily shocked into silence, Anna closed the book and placed it on the top of the nearest—yet possibly the most unsteady—pile. The stack of books swayed dangerously before settling back in to place. Stiles didn’t notice the almost avalanche of books as he was too lost in his own thoughts. 

The chapter gave him answers to many of his questions but the answers it had given couldn’t possibly be right, could they? Stiles had always been pretty easy going, often choosing to trust the information he was given (unless he had a solid reason not to) and asking questions where needed, but there was no way anyone in their right mind would believe this. Were the Hales hunters? Is that what they did; go around hunting down mythical creatures? And if there are werewolves living in Beacon Hills surely he would know. Surely his father, the sheriff, would know; there is no way something like this could be hidden from a town full of gossips.

The proof he needed came stumbling through the door, the noise of its arrival snapping Stiles out of his thoughts. Standing in the entrance to the room was a werewolf. There was no way he could deny it. Albeit it was a bloody and beaten werewolf but there was no way anyone with working eyes could call it anything else. 

The wolf eyed Stiles unblinkingly, its nose raised slightly as it sniffed the air around them, and slowly looked him up and down. Mistaking the wolf’s gaze for one a hunter gave its pray, Stiles instinctively took a step back. For once his basic survival skills were choosing to protect him rather than lead him closer to danger. It was only Anna’s small but comforting hand on his lower back that made him take a second look at the wolf. 

He noticed that although the wolf looked ready to attack, its eyes were calm and Stiles could tell it meant no harm to him or the small girl standing next to him. Rather than preparing for attack, as Stiles had first thought, the wolf seemed to be searching the pair in front of it for any signs of injury. 

After thoroughly searching them, the wolf visibly relaxed. Within seconds the wolf shifted leaving a very human, very naked, Derek standing where the creature had been. 

Well that cleared that up. The Hales aren’t the hunters, they're the hunted. 

Once Derek was no longer furious and sporting a matching set of fangs, he wasted no time in closing the distance between himself, Stiles and Anna. Reaching out he swiftly dragged the duo closer until he could easily bury his face in their necks, moving back and forth between his sister and the younger boy. 

After a minute of silence Stiles cleared his throat awkwardly. 

“Erm Derek? I hate to ruin the moment and all but two quick things.” Stiles spoke against the side of Derek’s head. “One, you’re naked and two…” he paused as he tried to get some space between the two of them. “You’re a werewolf?! What the hell, dude?” Stiles felt the werewolf’s arm tense against his side where he was still being held tightly. Not wanting to risk Derek going all wolf-man on him he quickly continued with a hasty “Not that it matters, ‘cause I mean werewolves? Totally awesome, but you could have told me before I slept in your bed.” 

As Derek relaxed he removed his arm and Stiles found himself instantly missing the warmth and comfort that it had provided him. He was tempted to reach out for it but, again, he didn’t want to risk irritating the wolf and ending up with his throat ripped out and thrown across the room. 

Choosing to remain silent and complete still, as to not risk bodily harm, Stiles waited for Derek to speak. The wolf paced silently as he tried to come up with a way to explain everything quickly.

“I wish I could explain everything now but there’s no time, I guess I have about 60 seconds before I’m needed back out there so the basics will just have to do for now. Stay quiet and just let me do the talking for once.” Talking a deep breath Derek stopped pacing and came to stand in front of the hyperactive boy. “Yes I am a werewolf, I’ve been one all my life, and so are the rest of my family. Normally we are left alone and the hunters don’t bother us but for some reason they’ve decided to go against our treaty and attack us. Anna can’t control her transformations yet and she isn’t strong enough to fight so the two of you need to stay in here. I’m serious, Stiles, DO NOT leave this room until someone comes and gets you. You’re safe here. No one can find you and nothing bad is going to happen to you.” Turning his head towards the door so sharply that Stiles was surprised his neck didn’t snap, Derek stopped talking for a heartbeat before returning his gaze to the younger boy. 

“Please just stay here.” The wolf finished desperately, taking a step towards the door before turning around and quickly pulling Stiles to his chest a final time. “Everything is going to be fine.” Stiles wasn’t quite sure who Derek was talking to but it sounded as though he was trying to convince himself more than anything. 

“I’ll be fine Derek, I promise.” Stiles reassured him, raising his head an inch so they were face to face. They stood in silence for a moment; a pained look in Derek’s eyes whilst Stiles simply looked shocked as he tried to take everything in. 

With what could only be described as a roar Derek closed the small gap between them and pressed their lips together with a grace that could only come from a werewolf. The kiss could only have lasted a couple of seconds before Derek was ripping himself away and running out of the room without so much as a fleeting glance goodbye.

If it wasn’t for the barely there tingle where Derek’s stubble and grazed his chin and the slight look of disgust on Anna’s face, Stiles would seriously be doubting whether or not the brief kiss had actually happened at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think pretty pretty please cause after all, your opinions mean everything to me. 
> 
> I am looking for a beta so if you're interesting email me at hellotheredarlingao3@gmail.com  
> Thank you!
> 
> Check out my tumblr (HTDBE) and feel free to ask me anything or just message/email me about anything in general. 
> 
> Much love to you all (:


	14. Skin on skin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so so so so so so so so so so sorry that it has taken me this long to update. I've somehow managed to destroy two laptops in the last two months so this is the first time I've been able to get online recently to post this. Hopefully the next chapter will be up soon, fingers crossed, but I can't promise anything.

Between the constant banging, howling and occasional gun fire coming from somewhere beyond the safety of the hidden room (or was it a den? They were wolves after all) Stiles found himself too preoccupied to even think about the kiss and what it could mean. You would think that when he finally had his first kiss it would be all he could think about but no. There were more important things to think about. Things like the battle that was currently happening less than 100ft away, a battle between mythical creatures and their mortal enemies. Who had time to analyse something as meagre as a kiss when a supernatural smack down was taking place? Not Stiles that’s for sure.

After another 15 minutes of continuous fighting Stiles anxiety level had risen from I’ve just been kissed by a guy who sprouts fur once a month and could easily rip my throat out with his teeth. To a rather more sever Oh my God I'm going to be killed by angry men with guns and/or vicious werewolves and I’ve only been kissed once. Jackson will never let me live this down. It may not be the best thing to be worrying about right now but it was a legitimate concern of his. 

Another 15 minutes of fighting found Stiles sat in a corner of the small room fighting back a panic attack whilst Anna sat quietly reading a book at the other side of the room. He couldn’t stop thinking ‘What if.’ What if Derek was dead? What if he never saw his dad again? What if he never saw Scott again? What if he never got to taste the joy that was curly fries again? He had become so lost in his own thoughts that he didn’t even register the sudden silence that had fallen over the house several minutes ago. In fact it took him several minutes and several shouts of his name for him to even realise that more people had entered the room. 

Standing in front of him were the Hales. They were each covered from head to toe in blood, so much blood that it couldn’t possibly all be their own, and their clothes where torn beyond recognition. Laura’s top seemed to be defying gravity in an attempt to cover her modesty. Derek’s on the other hand was hanging off one shoulder. The senior Hales didn’t seem to be faring much better; their clothes seemed to be in a similar state to their children’s. 

Upon her parents arrival Anna threw herself across the room and latched on to her mother’s leg seemingly unfazed by their appearances. It was then that Stiles’ brain finally caught up with everything going on around him. Everyone was alright, no one was hurt. They were all going to be okay. 

A slow grin slowly spread across his face as he made eye contact with Derek. He quickly crossed the room in a tangle of spastic limbs, watching Derek relax with every step he took. It made him want to reach the wolf even sooner. 

Stiles got his wish as Derek started moving hesitantly to meet him half way. A smile to match Stiles own growing as he moved. When they finally met in the middle of the room both of them reacted simultaneously, reaching out and holding on to the other as tightly as they could without causing damage. They both took comfort in the others presence and struggled to control themselves in front of the remainder of the Hales. 

The need to get closer to each other was almost overwhelming and the thought of having to separate was simply excruciating. Derek found himself hating the barrier Stiles clothes created between them. If it wasn’t for the fact that he was overly aware of his family watching them and his reluctance the scare the younger boy Derek would have removed the barrier between them in any way possible several moments ago. Even with several reasons why it was a bad idea swimming around in his head Derek was struggling to keep his claws from emerging and removing the offending items of clothing. 

Luckily his parents quickly seemed to pick up on his agitation before he did something he would later regret. 

“It’s been a stressful morning for us all and we have a lot of explaining to do later.” James glanced between Derek and Stiles.   
“Why don’t you two go and take a nap, you to Laura, whilst Alice and I go and make us all some lunch. We can talk about this when everyone has calmed down and gotten some rest.” He smiled gently but the look in his eye left no room for discussion. Not that any of them would say no to a nap right now. 

Without saying anything else they all left the room together. Alice, James and Anna heading off in to the kitchen, Laura set off to her own room and Stiles followed Derek up the stairs to his room. 

Neither the wolf nor the boy spoke as they silently stripped down to their underwear and climbed under the soft, warm sheets. Unlike before they gave up all pretences of sticking to their own sides of the bed as Derek wrapped himself tightly around the younger boys back whilst Stiles pushed back in to the heated chest of the dark haired boy. They both craved the skin on skin contact that they had been unable to have earlier. 

Stiles had thought that after the excitement of the day so far he would struggle to get to sleep, however once his head hit the pillow and Derek’s arm crept around his waist possessively he found himself unable to keep his eyes open for even a second. Choosing to give in rather than fight it Stiles relaxed in to Derek’s warm embrace and with a final sigh he quickly drifted off. Derek listened to the younger boy’s heartbeat for a moment longer before following him in to nothingness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So let me know what you think and all that jazz. 
> 
> Oh and if you feel like being super nice you could follow me on tumblr?  
> http://www.tumblr.com/blog/htdbe


	15. Something bad

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So so so sorry that I kept you guys waiting yet again. I promise I'll try and get the next chapter up faster.

Derek woke up after several hours of broken sleep to find himself alone in the bed. At first he didn’t think anything of it as this was how he woke up most mornings, unless Anna had had a nightmare and snuck in with him. It was only when he began his morning routine of stretching and rolling around the bed in his half-conscious state that he noticed a scent that, although familiar, he didn’t normally associated with his bed.

It took him slightly longer than he would like to admit to place the smell but he could blame that on having only just woken up. However, once he realised that the scent belonged to Stiles, who was supposed to be sleeping next to him, he wasted no time in running out of his room and leaping down the stairs in one smooth jump only to crash in to the wall as he lost his balance in his haste to find the missing boy. 

Quickly regaining his balance he continued his search and found himself heading towards the kitchen where he could hear the steady beating of 5 hearts. Once he had locked on to the sound he charged in to the kitchen and flung himself in the direction of the heartbeat he had easily identified as Stiles’ by the slightly raised pulse. Ignoring the embarrassment and teasing he knew was more than likely to come later Derek buried his face in the younger boy’s neck for a minute before sitting in the empty seat beside him. He then calmly reached for the jug of juice in the centre of the table and proceeded to act as though nothing had happened. 

Stiles hadn’t been expecting any show of affection from Derek this afternoon. In fact after what had happened the last time they’d had a ‘moment’ he’d expected Derek to completely ignore for at least a couple of hours if not for the rest of his forced stay with the family. Derek shoving his face, surprisingly gently, in to his neck, especially in front of every member of the Hale family (especially Laura who would most likely tease him mercilessly for the rest of his life for the PDA) was the last thing he had thought would happen when Derek joined them for lunch. 

To her credit Laura was keeping it together quite well and only a small smile had crept its way on to her freshly painted red lips. The rest of the family were doing a good job pretending that their normally stoic son had not just semi-molested their house guest in the middle of a family lunch. In fact Stiles got the feeling that the Hales joint composure was the only thing stopping Derek from blushing a brilliant red and quickly fleeing to the safety of his bedroom. Instead the older teen was starring in to his glace of juice as though it held the answers of the universe and forcefully avoiding looking at the younger boy to his left as he realised what he had done.

After several moments of what had to be the most painful silence any of them had ever sat through Stiles awkwardly cleared his throat and looked towards the elder Hales expectantly.

“So I guess you have some explaining to do.”

Taking his wife’s hand James turned slightly in his seat so he could easily see everyone but Stiles was still directly in front of him and took a deep breath. 

“This is going to take a while so get comfy.” 

And with that the painful silence was broken as each member of the Hale family (Pack? Whatever they were) gave their own input at various stages of the tale James told. He started right at the beginning, the beginning being the creation of the first werewolf, and continued all the way up to the present day and their constant fight for survival against hunters as they travelled across America before settling in Beacon Hills. Truthfully Stiles couldn’t remember half of what he had been told once the Hale patriarch finished speaking but he hoped he would be able to remember the key parts. 

He dragged himself out of his thoughts slowly to find he was being watched expectantly by everyone sat at the table excluding Anna who was too busy focusing on what appeared to be a drawing of a wolf riding a unicorn to pay attention to anything else. 

“So basically,” he paused as he tried to remember what he had just been told. “You’re a family of furry things that like to run through the woods on full moons. You don’t eat people only other fuzzies. Hunters often try to kill you but you have a treaty with the local ones so all is good on that front and you have like superpowers which are like totally awesome. Did I miss anything else of importance?” 

He looked around at the family who were watching him with their own mixes of amusement, curiosity and surprise. How was it that this boy could not bat an eyelash at being surrounded by potentially dangerous creatures but get fixated by them having what he called ‘superpowers’.

“Wait,” the teen suddenly remembered something that had been said a couple of minutes ago. “What did you say the hunters surname was? Argent? Do they have a daughter about my age called Allison?” 

“Yes actually. Do you know her?” Alice asked curiously. 

“She’s my best friend Scott’s, I think I’ve told you about him? I must have done at some point, he’s in all my good stories. Anyway, Allison, she’s Scott’s girlfriend.” Now that he thought about it, it made sense. Sort of. Mr Argent ran some sort of gun business and Allison, although a complete Disney princess, was a wicked shot with a bow and arrow. It was a good job that there was a treaty between the two families because otherwise Stiles would be slightly scared for his safety right now. Mr Argent could be one scary motherfucker at times and he certainly wouldn’t want to become his enemy just because of who he was friends with. But wait, if they have a treaty with the Argents then who were the hunters who attacked today? 

As though he could read Stiles mind Derek answered his unspoken question. 

“We don’t think it was the Argents who attacked us today or at least not all of them. We think that a new group of hunters has moved in to the area and one of the Argents is feeding them information about us. We’ve had…problems, with some members of that family before and it wouldn’t surprise me if they were up to the same old tricks again.” Derek spoke with a frown marring his otherwise perfect face and Stiles fought himself for control of his hand as it urged to reach out and smooth the deep worry lines in the wolf’s forehead. Trying to distract himself Stiles tried to find out more about their relationship with the Argents. 

“What problems have you had with them in the past?” the teen questioned innocently, not realising the weight of his question. Laura and her parents looked towards Derek to answer the question knowing that it was up to him to tell Stiles what had happened. They all knew he still blamed himself for what had almost happened several years ago and they didn’t think it fair to tell the story for him. 

It took Derek a few minutes to gather his words but once he started to speak he found himself unable to stop. He told Stiles how he had thought he was in love with the older girl who had just moved in down the road from them. How he had fallen for her charm and beauty and was soon telling her things he had never told anyone, not even his family. He told him how one day when he was at school she had tried to burn down his house with his parents, baby sister and uncle still inside. It turned out that she was a hunter and thought all werewolves should be eradicated no matter who they were or what they had done. 

Luckily the entire family was able to escape from the fire with little physical damage, the worst being the burn that covered one half of Peter’s face, but the emotional damage ran a lot deeper. Anna had been the worst affected as she was only a small child at the time, it was the reason she found it hard to trust people. 

When Derek finished speaking Stiles was speechless for possibly the first time in his life. He couldn’t understand how one person could do something like that to another. He didn’t know what he could say that wouldn’t make him sound like a senseless idiot. Luckily, or maybe not, the front door suddenly flew open reviling a man who was the spitting image of Alice only more masculine. The other main difference other than gender was the large burn that spread from his right cheek bone down to the tip of his chin. This must be Uncle Peter. 

“I think I’ve done something terrible.” Were the first words out of the man’s mouth quickly followed by  
“I think I bit someone.” And then after scanning the room and noticing Stiles.   
“Who the hell is that?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there you go, what d'ya think? I actually quite like this chapter. 
> 
> Rate and review and all that jazz and I will love you forever. 
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr? HTDBE


	16. Left for dead

Once everyone had calmed down and was seated at the kitchen table, Stiles choosing to sit as far away from the new comer as was possible, Laura asked the question that was on everyone else’s mind. 

“What happened?” she asked hesitantly as though she wasn’t sure whether she wanted to hear his answer or not. If the human didn’t survive the bite then the hunters would have every right to take them down. 

“I was on my way here, taking the short cut through the woods as the roads are still closed, when I caught the trail of some rouge hunters. I shifted and followed the trail to an opening not far from here.” The normally cocky wolf seemed completely disoriented.

“There was… there was a boy, probably not much younger than Derek, and he smelt like hunters, my wolf panicked. I don’t know what happened but suddenly I'm pinning him down and I can taste blood.” He looked around at his family with guilty eyes. 

“I didn’t hang around long enough after that to see if he was alright.”

“So you just left him there? To do what? Die?” Stiles couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Peter’s eyes flashed and he bared he teeth to the young boy. 

“I didn’t know if there were other hunters near. I couldn’t risk it.” He growled. 

“Okay that’s enough Peter. Laura and I will go and have a look around and see if we can find him. If he is a hunter then we will deal with that as we must. If not we can bring him back here and assess the situation. James if you could please get some food and first aid supplies ready in case we have another unexpected guest. Peter go take a shower, you reek of dirt and blood. Derek?” Derek looked towards his mother at the call of his name.

“Keep an eye on Stiles and your sister. We’ve had enough goings on for one day.” Laura tried to hide her smirk at the incredulous look on Stiles face. 

“I am able to look after myself, I'm not completely incapable.” Derek placed a discreet hand on the disgruntled boys back and tried not to get lost in his over expressive eyes as he looked to him for help. Stiles leaned back into the unnaturally warm hand and glared at the rest of the family. Unfortunately his weak human glare only fuelled their amusement. Alice cleared her throat and forced a straight face. 

“I know you’re perfectly capable of looking after yourself, in any other situation, but normally you don’t have to deal with hunters and werewolves.” And really, he couldn’t argue with that. 

“Fine. You better go find the poor idiot who got mauled and we should find Peter a leash.” Stiles sighed and leaned closer to Derek as Peter let out a warning growl from deep in his chest.

“Is it safe for me to be near him? He’s already bitten someone today, I don’t want to become his next chew toy.” He stage whispered over his shoulder to Derek watching Peter out of the corner of his eye. The older wolf smiled lecherously. 

“And what a pretty little chew toy you would make. Do you squeak if I squeeze you in the right place?” Peter leered causing Derek to let out his own warning growl and pull Stiles closer to his chest, out of his uncles reach. 

“Stiles why don’t you take Anna upstairs and do some drawing? I need to talk to my uncle.” 

Normally Stiles would have argued that he should be allowed to stay but one look in the wolf’s eyes and he knew it was not up for discussion. Nodding slightly Stiles pushed his chair away from the table and turned to where Anna was quietly reading in the corner. She was being so quiet and still that before Derek had told him to take her upstairs Stiles had almost forgotten that she was still there.

“Come on munchkin, lets leave the big bad wolves to their boring talk.” He forced a cheerful smile as he took the little girls hand and lead her upstairs, glaring at Peter as he passed. 

They stayed upstairs for a couple of hours, Derek joining them after he finished with Peter, and between them Anna and Stiles had drawn a large pile of pictures. Stiles was actually rather proud of the drawing he had done of his beloved jeep even if Derek says it looks like a blue brick. 

He was so lost in what he was drawing (It was supposed to be Derek but it looked more like a potato with giant eyebrows.) that he didn’t realise that the rest of the Hales had returned with what could potentially be the newest member of the pack. 

The moment that the front door slammed shut though Stiles was on his feet and sprinting down the stairs, quickly followed by Derek and then Anna at a slower pace. What he saw once he reached the bottom of the stairs, however, caused him to come to an abrupt stop. This had to be a joke. 

“So it looks like Peter’s victim had a friend with him who saw everything.” Alice spoke calmly.

How could she be calm right now? How could anyone be calm right now? Looking at the two boys holding hands by the front door Stiles felt anything but calm. 

“S-Scott?” he whispered in disbelief as his best friend turned to face him. 

“Stiles! What are you doing here? Did that psycho wolf get you as well?” Scott walked towards the shocked teen slowly dragging the other boy who was still latched on to his side with him. 

“You’re the one who got bit! How… what were you doing out in the middle of the woods in a blizzard?”

Scott looked around at the members of the Hale family that he had yet to be introduced to before returning his gaze to Stiles. 

“It looks like we both have some explaining to do.”


	17. Tell me a tale

For a moment no one spoke, not even Stiles. Where was he even supposed to start? It wasn't like he had experience giving life changing news. Maybe he should just let Scott go first, after all, he had plenty to explain himself. 

"So... Feel like telling me what you were doing out in the middle of a blizzard with Isaac, wait.. Is he wearing your shirt? Why does he have your shirt? Oh my god! Are you fucking Isaac? Why didn't you tell me, how could you not tell me, what happened to you and Allison? Have you-" 

"Stiles!" Scott and Derek yelled in tandem snapping Stiles out of his rant. They both moved closer to him in an attempt to ground him from what could of been the beginning of his first panic attack in 4 years. Well that wasn't weird at all. His best friend and his... Derek? Joining together to bring him back to reality. This day could not get anymore peculiar. 

"If you calm down and actually shut up for once I'll be able to explain everything, just, can we maybe speak somewhere with less people? Maybe just me, you and Isaac-" a loud growl came from just behind Stiles followed by equally loud twin gulps from Scott and Isaac. "and Derek, yeah Derek should come." Scott stammered out. 

Stiles bit back his laughter before nodding and leading the way in to the family room. If they were going to have what was steadily looking to be a very awkward conversation they could at least sit somewhere comfy. 

With a small sigh Scott began to tell his tale.

"First of all I just want to say its not what you think. I'm not sleeping with Isaac." Stiles let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. It wasn't that he had anything against his best friend sleeping with another guy, but after having to suffer through Scott waxing poetic about Allison for the first few months of their relationship he didn't want exactly want to relive the experience if Scott had started a new relationship.

"But you're right he is wearing my clothes." his gaze flickered to Isaac, then back to Stiles before settling on the ground between his feet. "Lets just say that Isaac's dad isn't the nicest person ever and decided that it would be a good idea to lock him in the back yard in his underwear in the middle of a blizzard. He called me and I brought him some clothes over. We were just heading back to mine, cutting through the woods, when your psycho uncle attacked us." he finished with a glare aimed at Derek. 

Stiles had to admit that the growl Derek let out along with his flashing eyes was slightly terrifying. 

"My uncle was only protecting himself. You came into our territory reeking of hunters and he simply followed his instincts. Maybe he shouldn't have bitten you but you can't place all the blame on him, especially if your going to be pack mates in the near future. Not only that but as he bit you he will out rank you so you better start treating him with some respect." The elder wolf spat out with a fierce look. Stiles shot Derek a glare of his own although it was no where near as terrifying.

"Ignore sourwolf, he's just cranky." he spoke without removing his eyes from Derek's.

"I think that covers everything on your side so I now guess it's our turn. What do you want to know?"

"I don't even know where to start. Your sister, Laura is it? Explained most of the wolf basics to us on the way over but no one really explained why I was attacked or what will happen now." 

"I think I can answer the why but I'll leave the what happens now to Derek." Stiles looked to Derek for confirmation. After receiving a sharp nod he continued. 

"Allison's family are hunters. As in she may try to kill you now the next time you piss her off, yet again." 

Scott didn't seem to like what he had to say if his warning growl was anything to go by. It was nowhere near as ferocious as Derek but it was still startling. In fact Scott seemed just as started at Stiles was. 

"Whoa, wolfboy is showing his furry side." Stiles cackled at his friends shock drawing a faint smile out of Isaac who was still attached to Scott's side. They were sat so close together, Isaac was pretty much sat in Scott's lap at this point, that Stiles was having trouble believing that there wasn't actually something going on between the pair. If it wasn't for Scott's on/off relationship with Allison he wouldn't believed it at all. 

"I'll let you take over now." Stiles nudged Derek's shoulder before settling against it, leaning in to the wolfs unnatural body heat. 

"Right. Because Peter bit you that means we automatically have to offer you a place in the pack. You can either accept and join us or you can become a lone wolf, an omega. Honestly I couldn't care less which you choose but you should know that if you choose to become an omega you will become an easy target for the hunters, my family can offer you and those closest to you protection. We wont make you decide right now but at the same time we won't wait to long for you to make up your mind." 

Scott's face remained blank as Derek spoke but Stiles could tell he was taking everything in. 

"Oh one more thing. You can't see Allison anymore."

"What?!" Scott all but shrieked causing everyone else in the room to wince. 

"She is the enemy Scott. Unless you have a death wish you need to stay away from her." 

"He has a point Scott, she is a hunter." Stiles tried to reason with his friend. 

"b-but... Fine." the new wolf pouted  
"but what about Isaac?" 

"He should probably avoid Allison as well. You too Stiles." 

"No I mean what will happen to Isaac now. He can't go back to his dads, its not safe for him." he pulled the quite boy further in to his lap and wrapped an arm tightly around his waist. 

"What can we do? We can go to the police but there isn't really much else we can do." 

"Yes there is." Isaac mumbled in to Scott's shoulder 

"What was that?" Stiles asked, unable to hear with his human hearing 

"I said," Isaac pulled his face away and sat up straight "There is something you can do." 

At the confused looks of everyone surrounding him Isaac continued. 

"You can give me the bite."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait guys. I finally have a laptop again so I can get back to my writing. Sorry for the terrible quality of this, I've been battling with writers block for weeks and this is the best I could do. Let me know what you think. 
> 
> Oh and hit me up on Tumblr I'm HTDBE


	18. The Debate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow hey guys so it's been a while huh? I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to get something up here and even more so that its so short and, if I'm being honest, pretty shit. But it is what it is so I hope you enjoy?!

 

For a moment everything was silent. Stiles and Scott shared matching looks of surprise before shouting their protests whilst Derek simply looked bored of the situation. Issac rolled his eyes at his friends overreactions.  
   
"Really guys it's not that big deal. If I was a wolf I'd be stronger right? So I could stand up for my self!" the curly haired teen argued to the group before turning to face Scott.   
"you wouldn't have to go through this alone, we could do this together. If they gave me the bite they would have to let me join the pack as awell."   
  
Issac paused for a moment and looked around. Stiles was starting to look like he could be persuaded and Derek still looked as disinterested as he had done when they entered the room, Scott, however, still seemed skeptical.  
   
"I don't know Issac. I don't even know if I'm going to join the pack myself. And you don't need the bite, I can protect you now, you don't need to get dragged into this mess because of me." Scott spoke quietly, thoughts whizzing through his head as he tried to make sense of everything that had happened in the past few hours.  
   
"If you don't want to join the pack then that's fine too, we can start our own pack, neither of us would ever have to be alone again." Issac argued in response taking a step towards his protector.   
"and I don't need you to take care of me Scott, I'll always be grateful for what you've done but I can't hide behind you forever. Oh, and you didn't 'drag' me into anything, if it wasn't for me you wouldn't have been walking through the forest anyway, you wouldn't be in this situation."   
   
Stiles was impressed, Issac had left Scott with very little room to protest. Even Derek seemed to be struggling to hide a slight curl of his lips.   
   
Scott let out a resigned sigh and closed the short distance between himself and the taller boy. Whispering a muffled agreement into the boys curls before releasing him and turning to Derek.   
   
"Do you think your parents would give him the bite, you know, considering everything that's going on. Its not like he'll be forgetting about werewolves anytime soon. If he's going to be keeping your- our- secret he might has well get something out of this too right?" Scott asked hopefully, his usual dopey charming smile fixed in place as he gave Derek his best puppy dog eyes. Stiles tried to hold back a laugh at the sight of his best friends obvious attempts to manipulate the older wolf into taking his side.   
   
Nudging Derek gently to gain his attention Stiles leaned closer to whisper in the wolfs ear. "You know what they're saying makes sense, just talk to your parents, see what they have to say."   
   
Derek looked into the wide whiskey coloured eyes that stared at him pleadingly and found himself reluctant to deny the boy of anything nevermind this simple request. With a sigh he pushed himself away from the wall he had been leaning against and headed towards the door that lead into the hallway, reaching out as he passed to brush his hand along Stiles' shoulder.   
   
"Fine." Derek huffed out, unwilling to show his willingness to help the band of boys. "But I can't promise that anything will happen." he finished as he stepped through the door.   
 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So due to personal/medical issues I haven't been posting in a long while but I'm hoping to change that. If you're actually interested in this lonely author feel free to come and chat to me across on Tumblr, I am as always HTDBE.  
> Anyway kudos and comment x


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